Convertible bedstead



Get. 7, 1958 s. BAKER ETAL CONVERTIBLE BEDSTEAD Filed April 13, 1956 M T N R E O WK N RT M E 3 \ea R D K 0 Am. n SN A Y B CONVERTIBLE BEDSTEAD Sander Baker and N ick Stefano, Cleveland, Ohio,

said Stefano assignor to said=Bakerv Application April 13, 1956, Serial No.-57 8, 141 1 Claim. (Cl. -331) The present invention relates genei'ally" to'bedsteads and more particularly to a'convertiblbe'dstead in wiii'ch detachable side panels or guards are mounted on a bedframe to provide a junior bed or youth bed;

In general, cribs are provided for infants and "youth beds are provided for young children'whdhave outgrown a crib, but who are still not old enough to be trusted in an adult size bed. Thus, children'who are from 37 y'ears old will tend to fall out of bed unless 'a 'guard o'r fence of some sort is provided. The youth bed 'is'intermediate in size between the crib and the adult bed,-and-'is provided with elevated side guards to prevent the child from accidentally falling out of bed. However, whenthechild has outgrown the youth bed, the youth bed must be discarded in favor of an adult bed. This represents (z-"considerable and unnecessary expense, in view of the fact'th'a tthe child can utilize the youth bed only for about four-years.

It is the primary object of our invention to provide a youth bed which is quickly and easily convertible to a conventional adult bedstead when the-child ha's dlftgrown the need for it, thus making it unnecessary to purchase a new adult bed for the grown child.

Another object of our invention, isto provide acnvertible bedstead of the character described iriwhichthe side panels are so constructed and arranged that they can be mounted on conventional adult bed frames without requiring any extensive modification thereof.

A further object of our invention is to provide a bedstead of the character described in which said side panels include a hinged drop-leaf for permitting convenient ingress to and egress from the bed.

Still another object of our invention is to provide a bedstead of the character described in which the conventional spring and mattress serve to space and stabilize the side panel structure.

Other objects and advantages of our invention will become apparent during the course of the following description.

In the accompanying drawings forming a part of this specification and in which like numerals are employed to designate like parts throughout the same,

Fig. 1 is a perspective view of a bedstead embodying the features of our invention.

Fig. 2 is a fragmentary cross-sectional view taken on line 22 of Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is a fragmentary cross-sectional view taken on line 33 of Fig. 1.

Referring more particularly to the drawings, the bedstead is seen to comprise a supporting frame 10, and a headboard 11. j

The frame is of the type commonly referred to as a Hollywood bed frame which is formed of fabricated angle iron. The frame includes a pair of horizontallyspaced parallel rails 14 and 15, each of which is provided with a pair of rigid transversely-extending cross-bars 16. Each of the rails 14, 15 has secured thereto a pair of depending legs 17.

In assembling the frame 10, the cross-bars 16 of the r 2,854,677 Patented. Oct; 7, 1958 right rail 14-are disposed in overlapping, nested relationship to the opposed cross-bars 16 of the left rail 15. The

overlapped cross-bars are linearlyadjusted so that the rails- 14, 15 are parallel to each other and are properly spaced to receive the bedspring andmattress (not shown). The opposed cross-bars are then secured to eachother by means of a suitable clamp 18 to provide a rigid frame.

The rails 14, 15 define parallel sills or support ledges 19 and short'vertically extending retainer walls 20. The bedspring'is supported on the ledges 19 and is maintained against transverse movement by the retainer walls 20.

It will be understood that the body-supporting bedspring and mattress are slightly longer than the rails 14, 15 .so that the foot-ends 21 of therails do not project beyond the body-supporting'members.

The head-end 22 of each of th'e'rails14, 15 has fixedly secured thereto a vertically-extending plate 23. The headboard 11 is secured to the frame 10 by means of bolts or screws 24 which connect the headboard to the plates 23. The headboard 11 includes a pair of verticallyextending posts 25 rigidly connected to each other by a plurality of cross-members 26' to provide a framework for the decorative portion 27 of the headboard which may be upholstered and suitably embellished, as desired. The

headboard 11 thus provides an upright rigid extension of the frame 10. a

- It will be noted that the foregoing describes a conventional Hollywood bedframe and headboard which are assembled and securedto each other to provide an adult bedstead such as is 'incommon'and widespread use;

:In order to make "the bedstead suitable for use as a youth bed, we providea right side-panel 28 and a left side'panel 29 on the bedstead. It will be understood that under certain 'conditions, such as whenthe bedstead is located with one side against a Wall of the room, only one of said side panels might be desired. However, as herein described, a pairof such panelsare shown.

Inasmuch .as the left panel 29 is a mirror image of the right panel 28, it will be suflicient to describe the structure of only the panel 28.

The panel 28 includes a vertically-extending baseboard 30 which is substantially coextensive with the rail 14 and which rests upon and is supported by the upper edge of the wall 20 of the rail 14. The head-end 31 of the baseboard 30 extends into overlying relationship to the post 25 of the headboard 11 and is secured thereto by means of readily removable wood-screws 32, so that the baseboard is rigidly connected to the headboard. The footend of the baseboard 30 would normally, due to its remoteness from the point of securement, have some degree of transverse movement relatively to the frame 10. In order to prevent any such outward transverse movement or displacement of the baseboard 30, we provide a retainer element 33 which is secured to the baseboard adjacent the foot-end thereof. As best seen in Fig. 2, the retainer 33 is L-shaped and has the stem portion 34 thereof secured in a recessed portion 35 of baseboard by means of a threaded fastener 36. The flange portion 37 of the element 33 is substantially coplanar with the inner face 38 of the baseboard 30 and is disposed in faceto-face abutment with the surface of the upright wall 24) provided by the rail 14. Thus, the foot-end of the baseboard is retained against outward displacement by the element 33. When the bedspring and mattress are placed on the frame 10, they serve to prevent any inward displacement of the baseboard and also serve to maintain the retainer element 33 in firm abutment with the frame 10 so that the baseboard will not rattle or move when the bed is being used.

The panel 28 also includes a drop-leaf 39 which is hingedly secured, as at 40, in edge-to-edge abutment with the baseboard 30 as it is not necessary that the drop-leaf be stabilized by the spring and mattress in the manner that the baseboard is. The hinged connection 40 between the baseboard and the drop-leaf is sufficient to provide the necessary support and stability for the drop leaf 39. The baseboard 30 is preferably sufliciently high to extend to a level which is slightly below the level of the body-supporting mattress; the drop leaf 39' is sufficiently high to provide the necessary safeguard to prevent the child from accidentally rolling off the bed.

As best seen in Fig. 3, a spring-loaded catchv 41.is secured to the headboard post 25 in the path of movement of a striker element 42 which is secured to the upper edge of the drop-leaf 39. In closed position, the dropleaf is held by the catch 41 as shown in Figs. 1 and 3. When the catch is released, the drop-leaf 39 will fall or can be rotated to the lowered position shown in dotted outline in Fig. 1. In the lowered position, the drop-leaf permits normal ingress to or egress from the bed without obstruction. When the drop-leaf is raised back to its closed position, the striker 42 cams the catch 41 and the catch 41 then resets to automatically secure the drop-leaf in its upright position. By placing the catch 41 on the post 25, the catch is easily accessible, without interference or obstruction by the bedclothes, and at the same time it is in a location which minimizes the possibility of it being accidentally opened by the bodily movement of the sleeper. 4

When the child has reached an age where the safeguard of the side-panels is no longer required, the removal of the screws 32 permits the entire side-panel assembly to be removed and thereby provides a conventional adult bedstead for continued use by the growing child. There is thus no necessity for purchasing a single-purpose type of junior bed which must subsequently be discarded as the child outgrows it. It will readily be observed that if a Hollywood frame bedstead is already available, the purchase of the side-panels only will sufi'ice to convert the bedstead into a youth bed in the manner heretofore described. In order to effect such a conversion, it is only necessary to attach the catch 41 to the headboard and to use screws 32 to secure the panel assembly to the post 25 of the headboard. No expensive or extensive modification of the conventional Hollywood bedframe is required.

It is to be understood that the form of our invention, herewith shown and described, is to be taken as a pre ferred example of the same, and that various changes in the shape, size and arrangement of parts may be resorted to, without departing from the spirit of our invention, or the scope of the subjoined claim.

Having thus described our invention, we claim:

A bedstead comprising a supporting frame including a pair of spaced longitudinally extending parallel rails, each of said rails having a horizontally extending in wardly directed bed spring-supporting ledge and a vertically extending retainer wall, ground-engaging supports depending from each of said rails to maintain said sup porting frame above ground level, an upright headboard secured to said pair of rails adjacent the head end there of, an upright base-panel disposed in edge-to-edge abut ment with the. edge of said retainer wall of one of said .rails and coextensive with said rail from a point beyond the head end of said rail to a point intermediate the ends of said rail, means for securing one end of said basepanel to said head-hoard, retainer means depending from the edge of said base panel adjacent the other end thereof and coplanar with the inwardly directed face of said base-panel, saidretainer means abutting the inner face of said retainer wall to prevent outward displacement of said other end of said base-panel from said rail, a drop leaf hingedly secured in edge-to-edge abutment with said base-panel and having one end thereof extending to a point beyond the head end of said rail, and means pro vided on said headboard in the path of pivotal movement of saiddrop-leaf for releasably securing said drop-leaf to said headboard.

- References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 

